It's What You Do In Those 2 Minutes

The smoke from the smoke machine hits your face and goes right in through your nostrils. The blue lights are roving all around you as if trying to spot an escaping criminal. Looking at your feet while crouching you become aware of the 20 other people standing around you in a cluster and a over a couple of hundred looking on. Anticipation, nervousness and excitement mingle in the air around your head. You hear faint music which starts to grow louder and mentally you counting up to the moment. 5..6..7..8..and then

It explodes right out of you ! It's not even been 10 seconds since the smoke hit you and you became aware of the lights and the people around you but it feels like forever. Suddenly you find yourself doing a routine you've worked hard at for over a month and a half. You realise that for the next 2 minutes you own the stage and in that moment the blaring music is all that matters. And this is exactly how i felt while performing on Sunday.

It wasn't all easy. I'd practised really hard for this with people whom I've come to regard as really good friends. There were moments of ecstasy when we had been praised, those when we felt down in the dumps because we JUST COULDN'T get that one step! 

But we were a confident chattering lot when we met for the dress rehearsal on Saturday because not only did we have a great last class, we had all also run into friends at the venue. But that was till we went on stage. And when we were done with what we thought was the final rehearsal prior to the show we were shocked, because for some reason that we couldn't identify, we were terrible. We were so bad that for the first 15 minutes after the act our choreographer/instructor didn't come to us because we had embarrassed her and she didn't want to be associated with us. And when she told us this it hurt, so bad. She told us that we had to go and rehearse as a team.

So 2 and a half hours after leaving the stadium we all met up at our studio for an unofficial practise. And it was a good rehearsal. All of us wanted to be brilliant on stage, not just for ourselves, but also for our instructor. And the next day we realised it was totally worth it.

We were nervous and confident at the same time. But we had worked hard ! We had a unique track and probably the prettiest costume :P When we came off stage everyone congratulated us but we were all waiting to hear from our choreographer. And she was overjoyed when we finally met her! Apparently we were one of the best batches on stage. Felt like in a span of 2 days we had gone from being really good to being underdogs and being (if i may say so myself) brilliant again.

It was a good journey, these one and a half months. But it all comes down to those 2 minutes and what you do then, when your adrenaline is pumping. And this is what we did

The Thrill Lies In The....?

I have an exam in less than 9 hours. Have I studied ? No. Do I want to study ? You think ?! Am I going to study right now ? Definitely NOT. So instead I decided to post this.

A couple of days ago I came across this question on a subjective form “Does the thrill lie in the catch or the chase?”  Being a White Collar fan my first reaction was chase. What can be cooler than chasing convicted art thief/con-man/loads of other stuff? Actually I’ll let that be for another time.  But then I got thinking and frankly I couldn’t clearly pick one so here’s what I feel for both the sides.

The chase is the fun part for sure. We’ve all heard about enjoying the journey instead of rushing to the destination blah blah blah. But why is that? That’s because you are continuously anticipating what’s going to come next. There is a lurking suspicion just waiting to turn into an adrenaline rush. And what’s the thrill of a catch if there is no chase. It’s just another monotonous activity that you pursue with disinterest. And suddenly there’s the chase that gives you a real reason to go after the catch.

Then there is the catch itself. The chase is fun and interesting. Agreed. But it exists only to reach to the catch. The means is useless if there is no end. Also there can be nothing more frustrating than a wild goose chase. So certain people believe that as long you reach the goal the monotony is bearable. And I understand this thought process because sometimes all you want is the final result.

After note :

Having written this down in black and white (figuratively of course. Literally it’s still black..duh ! ) I realize that similar to what I felt earlier, I’m still tilting towards the chase. I need something to look forward to and though the catch always fills that position, there is nothing like a good old chase. Look at James Bond. Who would call him suave and classy if he just walked up and put the handcuffs on Le Chiffre ? I’ll tell you who. NO ONE. Or even better. Tom and Jerry. There is never a catch, only a chase. But you still enjoy it even though you rarely watch it. And it has been one of the best cartoon show of all times.

I think I’ve pretty much decided. Back to rooting for the chase.

History Does Repeat Itself

The recent case of brutal rape of a 23 year old girl in Delhi has led to reactions pouring in from all parts of the country and from people in all walks of life. This post is not about the disgraceful behaviour on the part of the legislature, executive and judiciary in the past or even today, though A LOT can be said about that.
As a person who observed the turmoil both on ground during the protests and on the television screen watching debate after debate, listening to various view points being presented, I made an observation.
I believe that all the people who talk about/act upon such issues or any issue for that matter can be demarcated into 3 categories. And these categories bear an uncanny resemblance to the people who lived in our country during the fight for independence. Listening to various personalities on panel discussions took me back to my class VIII history lessons on modern Indian history. You'll soon understand why. Now for the categories:

The Protestors: They seem to be the 21st century's version of Indian National Congress extremists. They are the ones who have had enough and have waited for long in vain for those in power to take steps for their welfare. Finally when they see no other alternative they take the situation in their own hands. Upon provocation they'll retort through violence ( Dec 23rd incident at India Gate)  but they are also mature enough to protest without any weapon in their hands except for candles to show sympathy towards the victim (Dec 29th-Jantar Mantar). They will also throw out the people they don't want without a sparing a second thought towards them( Delhi CM being sent back from Jantar Mantar).

The Political Class: An exact replica of the regresssive British authorities of the 1911-1948 period to the very molecular level, except that in those days their was no option of playing blame games and passing the buck across party lines. Then the loyalties lay with the king, today they lie with the respective party leaders. Addressing only vote banks, criticising members of other political parties, suspending public services at their own whims and fancies and most of all insensitivity towards the comman man and a lackadaisical approach towards reformation is what definies the core ideologies of our political class. When the citizens want to be heard they are out of sight, when people don't want to see them they appear and then only to gain political mileage.

And now for the most interesting and agonising lot of them all :

The Gutless : This group is made up of people who want to please both the sides, the ones who are either too afraid to take sides or the ones who probably got stuck in a time portal when the acceptable turned into the unaccepted and the prevalent metamorphed into the orthodox old-world order. They feel that women are justified in demanding a life of dignity but also support the politicians who have the audacity to say that women should be married off early so as to prevent rapes. It cannot possibly appeal to any person's logic that these two schools of thought are supported at the same time. This lot resembles the Indian National Congress moderates who tried to maintain peace because they were either easily satiated or too scared to raise their voices, the former being more likely.

It is not just in this instance. Whenever a mass movement takes place these divisions exist in the society. People continue to have different perspectives. That is not the problem. The problem is that in the fight to prove who has a more logical ideology, the main issue gets diluted and lost somewhere.

STOP WHINING !

Ok seriously--What is up with people who are perpetually whining ? And by perpetually i mean literally ALWAYS whining ! So recently I came across a person who has probably taken up complaining as a hobby. That person is the inspiration behind this post but i realised that it's not a rarity to find such people.

It's amazing how some people can cast away hours cribbing about something and at the end will move onto crying about something else but will not once try to actualy do something about it. And dare you ask them to shut up or do something about the problem! You get to hear that you should be more supportive. Excuse me ?!

Maybe it's about the attention or rather the lack of it. What better way to grab attention than to draw all attention towards your ever-complaining form ?

I get it that once in a while one likes to give vent to one's frustration in such a manner. But doing it continuously is a cause of frustration for the other person.

So either do something about your issues or just accept them. Whatever you do----DO NOT WHINE !

RETURN OF BLABBER !

                    

 

Yes it’s been months! It’s been MONTHS since I posted on my blog. Yes I wanted to delete such a dormant blog. And it’s kind of sad that apart from a series of isolated incidents an irritating one is what stimulated me to come back to blogging.....well at least to a very great extent. That coupled with the fact that the course I pursue gives me basically no opportunity to write. I always thought that I’ll never give writing a break, that I’ll continuously write about something or the other. But sadly college sort of took that away. And I HAD to find an alternative so here I am...again !

Anatomy of a Dance Class

A week or so back I decided to take a short break from my dance class. This was most unlikely given that we have a performance scheduled next month and it is quite unimaginable that I would give up such an opportunity because this is exactly what I've been waiting for. But I have my reasons....

I knew that I would miss my class but I always assumed that it would either be the workout which makes you aware of muscles which you never even knew existed until they start paining or the high-on-energy routine which leaves you more refreshed than tired. To my surprise what I miss amongst all this is the presence of certain people.

These certain people have some very characteristic traits and can be grouped on the basis of the same. These groups basically are:

1.     The Giggly Girls Group: This is a group of girls who land up in class only when a certain instructor is taking the class. And they certainly don’t come to dance. Their basic job is to reach half an hour early and extract all possible personal details from the trainers. Of course, if YOU so much as say hi to the guy who incidentally is also your instructor you’ll get a look that could melt an iceberg !

2.     The I-Couldn’t-Care-Less Group: One sentence- why do you even bother to turn up i.e. whenever you do turn up ?!

3.     The I’m-a-Performer Group: Now these are the guys who can be stopped by nothing. They come to dance and dance they will, no matter what! They love the pain, the sweat, the heat....basically all things good or bad that are associated with the art. Most importantly they love to perform. For them every second in the studio is like a part of an on-stage performance.

4.     The Forced Group: These people couldn’t care less about dance and they look perpetually bored. The only reason they are in class is because they are forced to be there by their parents.

5.     The ‘Guys’: These poor lads think that they landed up in the wrong place. After all what can 4 quiet boys be doing in a class having 30 girls? But let me tell you some of these guys are really serious about dance and it shows when they move.

    I might be wrong but I think the same kind of structure exists in a lot of other fields and activities. Is that right ?

What All Lies in the NAME !

I'm a little new to the blogo-sphere considering that this is my first post. Basically here I decided to explain why i chose the blog name that i did.
I guess the 'talking' part is a little obvious. For those who didn't get it : i love to talk ! I don't realise this very easily. It is only when people who themselves stop talking for barely a minute tell me that i talk too much, do i actually get it. It is also a major reason for creating this blog; to write about those many things that i would rather talk about, but i don't.
Now coming to the 'daydreamer' part. Call it whatever you want-an inherent trait being a piscean or a waste of time- the point is that i daydream...a LOT! It's not something that i plan. It comes very naturally to me and it takes less than a second to jump from one random thought to another.And i have to admit it is a lot of fun.Well for one, you never get bored on those days when you are sitting alone at home.Not that this is an excuse for being an introvert. But i have to admit that it is also the biggest distraction ever. Thinking about all the places that would love to travel to is not the best idea when you should be learning how a judge can be impeached !